Spectacle Pod (Dimorphocarpa wislizenii)

   
 

Flowers and fruit of Spectacle Pod, El Paso, TX. Photographs by Wynn Anderson and A. H. Harris.

• Common English Names: Spectacle Pod
• Common Spanish Names:
• Scientific Name: Dimorphocarpa wislizenii (Dye-morff-oh-KAR-puh whiz-leh-ZEN-ee-eye) (formerly Dithyrea wislizenii)
• Family: Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)
• Geographic Range: Sandy soils from northern Chihuahua, Southwest and West Texas across New Mexico to Utah and Nevada.
• Plant Form: Biennial to short lived herbaceous perennial 2' H X 1' W.
• Remarks: Delicately scented, four-petaled white flowers cluster at the tip of blooming spikes that rise above gray-green foliage from May to October, leaving odd, two-chambered “spectacle” shaped seed pods lining the elongating stems. Low water, full sun to light shade, coarse, well draining soils, hardy.

Last Update: 17 Apr 2006